After Midnight

by Lacy Hart

  I glanced at my watch, saw it was 1:30, and still didn’t feel tired. My internal clock was well out of whack at this point, and I never knew when I was supposed to be tired anymore. I didn’t feel like just holing up in my apartment again, and soon I found myself walking towards the Moonlight Diner and thinking about Sarah.

  I remembered what Dr. Weber had said to me earlier today about going out and finding a new friend. Finding someone like that at this hour of the night meant either going to a bar and talking with someone that was likely drunk and wouldn’t remember you or heading over to the diner to see who was there. I already knew there was a friendly face there that I would like to see again, so the decision was easy for me.

  When I arrived at the diner and made my way up the steps and inside, the place looked empty. There was no one at the counter or the register, and when I peered inside, all I could see was one person sitting at a booth, nursing a drink. They gazed up at me as I looked in, met my eyes for a moment, and decided that their drink was more interesting than me.

  Maybe she isn’t working tonight, I thought to myself, disappointed that she might not be here.

  It was then that the doors to the kitchen swung open and I saw Sarah come walking out. She stopped when she saw me, with a mix of surprise and discomfort on her face. She walked over to where I was near the entrance and met me.

  “Hi,” Sarah stated.

  “Hello, again,” I told her with a smile. We stood awkwardly for a moment before Sarah picked up a menu.

  “Is it okay if I sit at the counter?” I asked her, unsure of what she wanted to do.

  “Sure,” she said, leading me back to the same spot I sat in yesterday.

  “Something to drink?” she asked matter-of-factly. I was wondering if she was purposely standoffish with me.

  “Could I get a coffee, please? Just black,” I offered.

  “I remember,” she said with a hint of a smile.

  Sarah placed the coffee down in front of me. I hadn’t even bothered to pick up the menu to see what I might want to have.

  “What can I get you?” Sarah said, taking out her pad.

  “Well, you did so well with the BLT last night, maybe I should just let you pick something out for me.”

  Sarah stood back and placed the tip of her pen near her mouth, giving some thought.

  “I think I have just the thing for you,” she told me. “Let me put your order in.” She then headed off to the kitchen, back through the swinging doors.

  As I sat at the counter, I saw the other waitress from last night come walking over near to where I was sitting.

  “Hello again,” she said to me with a big smile. Her dark hair framed her face nicely, and she seemed to be friendly, maybe even a bit too friendly. The white blouse she wore was unbuttoned down to reveal cleavage that she hoped people would notice.

  “Hi,” I said politely.

  She seemed disappointed that I didn’t engage her more in conversation and quickly turned her back to me to operate the soda fountain and get some drinks. She placed a glass underneath the Coke dispenser, but nothing came out. I saw her try it a couple of times, pressing the button, but the dispenser did not seem to be working.

  “Damn,” she said loudly. “This thing isn’t working again.” She was frustrated, and her face was getting red. Just then, Sarah came walking out.

  “What’s the matter, Fran?” she asked the waitress.

  “The stupid fountain isn’t working. Nothing is coming out.”

  “Doug told me there was something wrong with it. The repair guy is supposed to show up sometime today,” Sarah told her as she tried the buttons to see if anything was working.

  “That doesn’t help much now, or later once breakfast and lunch roll around,” Fran said to her.

  I could see that it was a problem for both of them right now, and they couldn’t solve it.

  “I can look at it if you want,” I offered.

  Sarah and Fran both turned and looked at me, unsure of how to respond.

  “You know how to fix these things?” Fran asked me bluntly.

  “I’ve never worked on one, no,” I said honestly, “but I’m pretty handy. I might be able to figure it out for you.”

  Sarah seemed reluctant about it.

  “I don’t know,” she said. “Doug’s pretty protective about this stuff, and if something else goes wrong with it, he’ll freak out.”

  “Sarah,” Fran said to her, “it’s not like it can get any worse than it is now. It’s not working at all. Let him at least look at it.”

  I sat on the stool looking at Sarah. She stared back at me as if she was trying to read me and get a better idea about me. Finally, she shrugged her shoulders.

  “Sure, go ahead,” she said, waving her arm towards the soda fountain.

  I climbed off my stool and walked behind the counter, moving past the two waitresses. I didn’t know the first thing about these soda fountains, but to be honest, I thought it would be something easy to fix. To me, it seemed like there was either a clog in a line somewhere, or perhaps it was a power problem.

  “Do you guys have a pair of rubber gloves I can wear? And maybe a screwdriver to use?” I asked Sarah.

  “I’ll get them!” Fran exclaimed as she ran into the kitchen for the gloves. Sarah stood close to me since there wasn’t much room behind the counter itself. I saw her look down quickly as I looked over at her, shuffling her feet lightly before crossing her arms and leaning against the back counter.

  Fran appeared with the gloves and a few different screwdrivers she had retrieved from the back. She handed them to me with a smile, and I nodded in thanks.

  I snapped the gloves onto my hands, wanting to do my best to keep the system sanitized if possible. Before doing anything, I asked where the power was to the machine. Sarah indicated it was right behind the machine, and I bent down a little and moved the machine slightly so I could reach the plug and remove it from the wall. As soon as I put my hand back there, I could feel that the plug was not all the way in. I pulled it out completely and then pushed it back into the outlet.

  “I think that will solve your problem,” I said to the ladies. “The plug wasn’t connected all the way. Maybe it just came loose when someone was cleaning it. Give it a try and see if it is working now.”

  I got out of the way, and Fran placed a glass under the Coke dispenser, after sputtering a bit, the pressure was fine, and the soda came out without a problem.

  “Thanks, sweetie,” Fran said to me with a big smile. “You’re our hero of the night.” She walked away with her sodas, and I went back to my stool and sat down.

  Sarah looked over at me and refilled my coffee mug.

  “Thank you for your help,” Sarah said to me. “You probably saved Doug $100 in a service call we didn’t need.”

  “You’re welcome,” I replied. “It was no big deal. I didn’t really do anything.” I took off the rubber gloves and placed them to the side.

  Just then, I heard the familiar sound of the bell ringing, and Sarah disappeared back into the kitchen. She came out with a plate and placed it in front of me. It was a sandwich with some French fries, but I wasn’t sure what the sandwich was.

  “What have we got?” I asked her, picking up the toasted bread and inspecting it.

  “it’s a new recipe our cook is trying,” Sarah said to me. “It’s chicken salad with some bacon on rye toast. I think you’ll like it.”

  I leaned in and took a bite of the sandwich. There was a loud crunch of the toast and bacon, and I got a good helping of the chicken salad. I looked at Sarah and tried to smile through my eating.

  “It’s good, I like it,” I told her as I took another bite. “Thanks for choosing it.”

  I sat there eating while Sarah did some straightening up on the counters, wiping things down. I tried to think of things to say to her, to work on it like Dr. Weber had asked, but nothing was coming to mind for me. Luckily, Sarah broke the ice.

  “You know, if y
ou’re going to be a regular around here I should probably at least get your name,” Sarah said, looking down at the counter instead of looking at me, wiping away with her towel.

  “Oh, I guess you’re right,” I said to her. “I’m Caleb… Caleb Wilson.”

  Sarah finally looked up from the counter to meet my gaze. “Nice to meet you, Caleb,” she said to me. “I’m Sarah Miller.”

  I took another bite of the chicken salad, not expecting Sarah to ask me another question right away.

  “So Caleb, what do you do for a living that allows you to be awake at two in the morning every day?”

  I swallowed and wiped my mouth with my napkin before answering her.

  “Right now, not much,” I told her. “I just retired from the Army after twenty years,” I said to her.

  “Wow,” she said with surprise. “You don’t look old enough to have been in the Army for twenty years.”

  “Thanks for the compliment,” I chuckled. “I enlisted when I was eighteen.”

  “I guess you have seen a lot of the world,” Sarah remarked.

  “I have,” I told her, munching on a French fry. “Maybe more of it than I ever thought I would… or wanted to.”

  “Did you like it… the Army, I mean?” Sarah asked. “Well, of course, you did if you stayed in for twenty years.”

  “I did like it,” I told her. “I learned to do a lot of things, met some great people, and learned a lot about life. It was a great experience.”

  “So, how come you retired? You look like you’re in good shape, and you liked it.”

  I hesitated before answering. I didn’t know if this was something I wanted to get into, but I also knew if I wanted to let people into my life, I had to be more open about things.

  “I had put my twenty years in, and since my son is in his last year of high school, I wanted to spend time with him while I had the chance. It just felt like it was time to go.”

  ”It’s nice that you get to be with your son and see him graduate,” Sarah said. “It must have been tough on him and your wife with you being away in the Army so often.”

  I felt a pang in my heart when I heard Sarah say that, and I think she saw something on my face and regretted the statement.

  “My wife… my wife passed away two years ago,” I said quietly. I picked at my French fries with my index finger for a few seconds before looking up at Sarah. She was staring at me, and I could see the sympathy in her face.

  “I’m so sorry,” she said to me, coming closer to me. “I didn’t know. I would never have said…”

  “It’s okay,” I said, putting my hand up. “There was no way you could know. She died in a car accident while I was overseas.”

  I took a deep breath and pushed away my empty plate, hoping to break the difficult silence that hung in the air between us.

  “That was a fantastic sandwich, Sarah. Thanks so much for recommending it,” I told her, wiping my face one more time to make sure no food was caught in my beard.

  Sarah stood up and took the plate from in front of me, still looking closely at me, before she shook her head as if to break the spell that was there between us.

  “I’m glad you liked it,” she said, whisking the plate away from me and bringing into the kitchen. She reappeared a moment later, pausing to go and ring up the only other customer that was in the diner at the time. Once he was taken care of, she came back over to me and smiled at me.

  “Is there anything else I can get you? Let me get you a piece of pie, on the house, as a thank you for your help.” She made a move to go towards the pie case before I stopped her.

  “No, thank you, that’s not necessary,” I said to her. “I didn’t do anything except plug the thing in. Besides, that sandwich has filled me up. I should probably get going.”

  “Oh, okay,” Sarah said, seeming a little disappointed. She passed the check over to me, and I tucked a tip for her under the ketchup bottle still on the counter.

  I walked over to the register to pay, and Sarah took the check from me. I decided then that the time was right to try to put Dr. Weber’s suggestion into motion. I handed a twenty over to Sarah to pay for the meal, and she rang it up for me.

  “You know,” I said to her quietly, “instead of dessert, if you want to thank me, maybe you could do a favor for me.” I was suddenly feeling quite nervous.

  “Sure,” Sarah said, “what do you need?”

  “I thought maybe, if it was okay with you, that I could maybe stop by on my morning run and walk you home again after work if you’re comfortable with that.” It took a lot for me to get that out, and I could feel my eyes looking up and down, avoiding direct eye contact with her, while she contemplated what I had said.

  When I finally looked up, Sarah brushed a stray hair away from her eyes and looked over at me. I could tell she was considering it and was unsure what to do. Waiting for an answer from her seemed like torture.

  “Don’t feel obligated to say yes,” I said quickly. “I just thought since I come this way anyway, maybe you wouldn’t mind a bit of company for your walk home.” I stuffed the change she handed me into my jeans pocket and turned to walk away.

  “Caleb,” Sarah said to me, getting me to turn around. “I get off at 6. I’ll meet you out in front of the steps?”

  I smiled broadly back at her. “Okay, great. I’ll see you then.”

  I pushed the door open with some gusto and bounded down the steps, pacing my way down the empty streets. I felt a tingle throughout my body and like a big weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

  I turned off Oak Street and headed back towards home, moving along at a quick pace, and I got to my apartment in no time at all. I looked at my watch and saw that it was close to three, leaving me three hours before I would have to meet Sarah.

  There was no way I was getting any sleep now. I felt a burst of energy and was overcome with a giddy feeling. It was then that I realized something – for the first time in a long time I felt like I had a good day, a day I could be proud of, and I was happy.

  I also realized something else – this whole situation, asking if I could walk Sarah home, also felt a lot like a date. That notion paralyzed me for a moment. I hadn’t been alone with a woman in a social situation since Ella, and the last time it was with a woman other than Ella I was about sixteen years old.

  Was this a date? Does Sarah think of it like a date? What have I gotten into? Am I ready for this?

  I was pretty sure my time from now until I left for my run my brain was going to be racing with these thoughts as I tried to come up with answers and figure out how this was going to go.

  10

  Sarah

  So, he does have a name, I thought to myself after our conversation and after Caleb had left the diner. I smiled to myself as I watched him walk out the door. It gave me a good feeling to have someone want to spend time with me, even if it was only for the brief walk home from the diner. There was something about Caleb that sparked an interest in me, maybe something even beyond just wanting to have him as a friend.

  There was no denying he was an attractive man. Seeing him run from the driveway the other day, watching him move, made that clear to me. He had the physical attributes that any woman would notice and find attractive. While I felt drawn to him physically, there seemed to be more to him than what many people may even realize. I got the impression from our conversations that he did not let many people in and kept most at arm's length. Perhaps it was because of his military background that he was that way. Or maybe it was because of the tragic circumstances of his marriage, and he did not want anyone close to him. Even with that, it appeared to me that he was not only willing to talk to me, but it was something he sought out and wanted. Let’s face it – no one seeks out coming to the diner at 2 AM several days in a row for nothing, even if the food is good. It seemed to me he was looking for something in his life, and maybe there was a glint of that here – with me.

  Caleb occupied my mind for the rest of my shift
, no matter what I seemed to do. I told Francesca about my conversation with him, getting his name, finding out a little about him, including the loss of his wife, and how he had asked if he could walk me home after my shift.

  “Seems very sweet,” Fran said to me, “but a little corny too.”

  “Come on Fran,” I said to her, crossing my arms. “I think he’s looking for a friend, and besides… I do find it a little romantic. Guys don’t ask to do stuff like that at all anymore.”

  Francesca looked over at me and smiled.

  “You’re so smitten with him right now,” she said to me.